Scammers have sent out emails purporting to be from New Zealand Post in an effort to compromise computers.

The emails advise "valued customers" that they have a parcel for pickup and invite them to click on a link to see the merchant invoice and tracking information. The link is in fact a malicious executable file.

There are some clues the email is a scam. It tells people to come with "a government-issued ID card or any valid form of identification" to collect their parcel.

Spokeswoman Claire Pasley said New Zealand Post had just become aware of the scam after a call to its customer service centre. The emails were not from New Zealand Post, and people should delete them, she said.

A Christchurch information technology expert said many people might fall for the scam as the errors were minimal and easily overlooked. "It mostly checks out until you hover over the link and realise you're being redirected to an executable. I bet many end-users would fall for it though."

With many computer users inured to phishing emails from banks, scammers have increasingly been "spoofing" the email addresses of other organisations, such as Inland Revenue and Trade Me, to increase their chances of fooling people.